(Parental Discretion Advised)

Monday, February 23, 2009

I finally woke up and did something, then figured I better post in case Julie comes home from the hospital- I know she will check this first, ha! :) Blogs are blocked at Children's.... wonder why? Parents need something to do when they spend day and night there....

Laura had asked me to make the peanut butter eggs from Simple and Delicious. I said I would, then promptly forgot. Saturday she called up and asked if I was... she is SR (spoiled rotten) but as her husband was coming over to do this-

I decided I better. I was pretty dizzy and out of it, so I biffed the recipe some, but they came out fine. I didn't try any, I was sick, but Laura said they were "better than Reece's" , which I think is pretty good. I didn't take pictures, which is okay cuz I couldn't figure out what an egg shape was, so I just made balls and flattened them. The peanut butter part has graham cracker crumbs in it- seems strange, but apparently is delicious! So, if you are looking for some nice easy homemade candy, try Simple and Delicious. :)

Then I finally sat down and made some cards. First I did a Thank You for Carm for having me over- my fave stamp set for that is "Sassy Suzie" from Stampin' Up.

Here it is: Inside:I always decorate the envelope to match:Since I was coloring Suzies anyway, I did a few birthday cards:

Front: Inside: Evelope:

When I was in the beadroom, I decided to do some Thank Yous for Lena. I am sending them to everyone who scooped the litterbox while Mom and Dad are away- tho I did lose my list. so if you don't get one, don't blame Lena! :)

Front:

Inside: Envelope:

I am also back to knitting- turned the heal on Tatie's first sock this morning.... :)

Send a few Angry Letters by email too. I actually have a file called angryletter.doc that I use for sent by mail letters, but email ones I do when I can. I had a box of VanDeKamp's Crunchy Fish Fillets that was one short- they are great by the way, if you get the number on the front of the box! The same meal I made my own tarter sauce with Vlasic Squeezable HomeStyle Relish, and found the relish does NOT shut airtight... you can hear the air going in and out if you squeeze it when it is shut. Imagine my surprise when I found out both are made by the same company! HA! Two complaints in one message. (I really just want to know how long the relish lasts if it is not actually sealed.... and a replacement fish fillet.)

Then I had a new set of Addi double points that I pulled out today- only to notice less than an hour later one had a busted point!

My fave line from that email:

"This had to have been a defect, as I did NOT drop them,stab anyone, chew on them, or do anything besides gentle knitting."

Sunday, February 15, 2009

This past week I have been SUPER busy. But I still got a few things done.

First I made a large batch of my Frankincense Lavender Healing Balm. Carm came for lunch the day I made it and had to take some home just from the scent! I love this balm- I rub it into my hands and elbows several times a day!

I also finished Manda's Brangelina hat. I ran out of black, so I finished the top in red. I didn't really like it, so I made another in a cool charcoal gray yarn.

We finally found undies to fit Olli (there are NO size 5 undies!!!) and he came over to stamp them this week. I like to buy undies for all the niblings when they are toilet trained, and he wanted HOCKEY. No one sells hockey undies, so we had to stamp them. Here he is with one of the completed pairs. Ethie stamped one pair too, for himself, but refused to pose with them. He said he wanted them to be "a surprise". :)

Here is my new glasses picture too! Tho the screw fell out on Saturday and we had to go to the local eye place to have it replaced. None of us could do it... I am going to google to find the tools they use at the professional eye place! :)

One the needles- I am making scarves that match Gregory's birthday socks (no pics of those yet- his feet are busy being used for medical purposes!) for his teddy bear that goes to all the procedures with him. I also am relearning crochet so I can teach Maila.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Well, the spa day went really well. I liked the facial the best- except the spinning brush part, it tickled my nose like crazy and made me sneeze like twelve times! Then I had a massage, a pedicure, a manicure and a hair cut. I, of course, wrecked four (finger) nails within two seconds. And I had to go upstairs, thru the mall, with my paper pedicure slippers on, to the salon to get my hair cut. Naturally one of the paper shoes ripped and I had to hobble thru the mall back to the spa, sliding the broken shoe under my foot. Pry got some kind of foot disease in the process! The mani/pedi lady was curious about the bruises on my foot- I hadn't noticed them before, so I would blame the massage lady, but she went very softly on my feet, so she pry noticed them as opposed to causing them!

The toes got a dark purple, the fingers a light pink so it hopefully won't show the chips as much. If they just let each coat dry as they did them, instead of saving money and time by jamming six coats on at once, it wouldn't take two hours to dry!!

I will post a picture of the hair and NEW GLASSES on Thursday. That's right, got my new glasses! And got two compliments from strangers on them within the first 24 hours! :)

Amanda got a new coat, and I am making her a matching hat. Well, I hope I am. One of my lights in my room burned out, and I am too dizzy to climb on the bed to change it. So, I think the yarn is black, but it just might be navy or something.... Until I can convince a visitor (perhaps tomorrow's dinner guest?) to climb on the bed and change it, no sock knitting. I took a picture of the bulky hat yarn vs the skinny sock yarn, just for fun. The hat is a version of the "Brangelina" hat... adapted to my yarn or course. I never do much exactly to the pattern....

Gregory is home from the hospital!! Yay! Here's hoping for a restful week for him and his whole family...

Thursday, February 5, 2009

I have been thinking lately about my sleep history. I have had some interesting, at least to me, episodes in my life! I always slept lightly, and then the lupus really messed up my sleep. When I was young, my cousin Linda told my mom one morning that I must not sleep at all, because every time she woke up, I was staring at her! When I got sick and moved back home, that is one of the reasons I kicked Loy out of our room... plus she was super messy!

The first time lupus attacked my brain, I was sure something was trying to possess me. I would wake up in the middle of the night, completely paralyzed, with a super heavy weight on my chest that felt like a person sitting on me. I could feel their hands around my neck- not choking me, but trying to pull my soul out. This, of course, freaked me out. I had to fight back two ways- I had to keep my spirit in my body, plus try to break the paralysis. I would start with my left hand, and try to move my index finger. The struggle took what felt like hours- eventually I would get the finger to move, then I would go to the next. By the time I got to around my wrist, the paralysis would snap and I would lay there gasping for air. I knew that if I didn't get up, it would happen again, but I would be too exhausted to move... and would fall back asleep, only to wake up paralyzed again a few minutes later. This would go on for hours, and in the morning, I would be even more tired than when I had gone to bed. Once I decided to just give in and let my spirit be pulled out of my body. I didn't really believe that someone was trying to possess me, so I thought maybe that if I didn't fight, the paralysis would snap. Not. I was ripped out of my body up to the ceiling, then pulled a hundred miles an hour towards the door. I remember looking down and seeing my body on the bed... it freaked me out, so I jerked backwards all my might and snapped back into my body. The paralysis was broken, but it scared me so much I never let go that way again!

After the chemo, the incidents like that decreased, then stopped completely. One Sunday I was reading the little "magazine" that comes with the Sunday paper and saw a blurb on people who think they are abducted by aliens. The article explained that your brain paralyzes your body when you are in REM sleep so you don't hurt yourself while dreaming. Sometimes you wake up and the brain doesn't realize it, so you are still paralyzed. People didn't understand what was going on, and thought they were abducted by aliens. I was so relieved- this explained what was happening to me! Except for the "ripping my soul out of my body" part, but I try to ignore that. :)

I also have trouble waking up in the morning. I seem to slip in and out of the dream state very quickly- I know this because one night I woke up, looked at the digital clock, fell asleep, had a LONG and scary nightmare that went on for hours, woke up gasping, looked at the clock, and saw that the minute had not even flipped to the next number yet! So the whole nightmare was mere seconds in real time. This causes trouble in the morning. When I wake up, I am too tired to actually get up, so I fall back asleep and have nightmares.

A common morning is waking up exhausted, tangled in my blankets, maybe with one of my face so I think I am suffocating, struggling free, using up all my energy just to get out of bed, only to have something strange happen that doesn't seem real.... realizing I am dreaming.... trying to force myself to wake up for real, starting the cycle over again... and when I actually wake up, I am so tired I can't get out of bed.... and then I fall asleep....So by the time I actually get up, I feel like I have done it twenty five times and am so tired I can't get out of bed!

I also have trouble knowing what is real and what isn't when I am sleeping. Once Loy and Manda woke me up to tell me Manda's dad was in an accident. They claim I jumped out of bed hollering "shit, shit, shit!" until they calmed me down and said no one was hurt. In the morning, I had no memory of the whole thing.If anyone calls me when I am in bed, texts me, or comes into my room, never expect me to remember. I don't know if it happened or I dreamed it.... or I don't remember it at all!

Yesterday morning was a bad one. I woke up because someone was screaming and pounding on the front door... but then it was all quiet... so I was trying to figure out if that part had been a dream right before I woke up, or if it actually happened and woke me up. Luckly I was really tired, and managed to convince myself it was a dream and went back to sleep.

One thing that helps me determine was is real is that all my dreams take place at our OLD house. I never have dreamed about the new house, tho we have lived here for five years. So, if it happened in the old house, it wasn't real!

Please keep Gregory in your thoughts and prayers- he is back in the hospital again.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Julie and Andrew have finally given in to family pressure and opened up a benefit account for Gregory. If you would be so kind and want to donate towards his massive medical bills, just contact the First National Bank of Cokato, MN, and tell them it is for Gregory Manninen's benefit account.

People have been asking how to help, so we convinced them to open the account.Thanks, and thoughts and prayers are welcome for him also!

Sunday, February 1, 2009

I got this game for Christmas, in my stocking. It is very simple, yet addicting. It is good for all ages, tho Olli was a bit young.The first time we played was a few weeks after Christmas. Loy, Ben and O were over for Saunas, and Loy and I started playing. We started slow, then realized how addicting it is... do you gamble and maybe lose your points? Or take what you have??? Mom came to join us for the second game, and she loved it. She even asked me where I got it. "um... from you.... for Christmas!" We died laughing.That was the night O tried playing. He got frustrated tho, and got out Don't Spill The Beans instead. Lucky, cuz a few minutes later he projectile vomited all over the game! I, of course, ran for the hills the second it started and let Mom and Gramma clean it up. The Toss Up! (ironic name, huh?) dice were on the edge of the puke zone, so I quietly cleaned them with Mela germ stuff, then put them away.

Until yesterday- after Manda and Hails watched a movie and ate cotton candy, Manda suggested we play a game and I grabbed Toss Up! It was a huge hit. Manda and I almost peed our pants watching Hailey. She is a gambler... she could barely sit still, would stand up to roll, her whole body shaking, then gamble too long and lose it all, collapsing in despair back into her chair. Manda and I just laughed and laughed at her! It was a close game too- except for Hailey. The object is to get to 200 points- but then we give each player a chance to beat the winner... Manda and I were close, so I carefully went just under 200, then on my next turn went all out and rolled a 49 point turn. I had 246. Manda had to roll 58 to beat me... the tension was high... we were on the edge of our seats... she rolled and rolled... and stopped at 59 with the win. Hailey, being so far behind, had to get 100 points to win. She crapped out after 9 tho... :)

We kept hollering "Don't crap out!" and got into a discussion about where that came from. We guess the game Craps... and then we had to discuss whether crap is a bad word in that context...

It is a great game, lots of fun for cheap. And it helps kids with math skills if you make them keep score like we did Hailey!